Rake.



F. E. KHLER,

RAKE.-

APPLICATION FILED SEPTAZ?. |915- lI IIIIIIII.

Patented Apr. 16, 1918.

wor/agg f premiati sirenes j rai-nier anion. y

FREDERICK R. KOHLRR, or CANTON, ORIO, nsseNoR To Trier. n KOHLERCOMPANY,

or CANTON, OHIO, A CoRroRnTroN or* CHIC.

RARE. f

Speecation of Letters Patent. Pgttmtd Apr', 16, ]l9j'l Application iledSeptember 27, 1915. Serial No. 52,761.

T0 all iff/tom t may Concern Be it known that I, FREDERICK E. KOHLER, acitizen of the United States, residing at Canton, in the county ofStarkand State of Chio. have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Rakes, of which the followino is a specification.

The invention relates lto improvements in lawn rakes of the4 typeinwhich a tubular.

rake, head is formed from a blank sheet of metal and provided withseries of apertures for receiving and holding rake teeth made of wire;and the objects the invention are to provide a construction which willper#` mit the wire for the teeth to be freely entered en wise into theapertures, and 1mproved means for lfirmly and positivelyv clamping therake teeth in the head so that they will not slip out of position whenthe rake is subjected to severe usage.

Heretofore the teeth have been held in such a rake head by an engagementwith the edges of neatly fitting apertures, such enga-gement beingeffected during the forniation of the 'head by bending the sides of aivi-shaped or channel bar to form the tubular head, whereby the teethare gripped by the edges of the apertures; as more fully set forth inPatent No. 567,129, dated September 8, 1896.

Such a construction requires the teeth to fit the apertures so neatlythat power pressure is necessary to force the teeth into the same; andfurthermore, it has been found in practice, that the engaging Contactbetween the teeth and rake head, thus effected, is not always sufiicientto securely hold the teeth in their proper positions.

rfhese difliculties are overcome in the pres-v ent invention by formingtherake head with series of apertures, of sufficient size to permit thewire for the teeth to be readilyA inserted endwise therein, and byproviding a retainer or binder extending transversely of the teeth andheld in clamping engagement therewith by the walls of the head, thusinsuring that the teeth will not only positively engage the edges of theapertures,but will be held in engagement therewith by the pressure ofthe binder against a considerable portion of the surface of the teeth.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in theVaccompanying drawings, forming part hereof, in which- Figure l is afragmentary perspective view ofthe completed rake; l Fig.- 2, afragmentary elevation of the blank sheet of metal from which the rakehead is formed, showing one form of aper tures therein;

Fig. 3, a similar view showing another form of apertures;

F ig. 4t, a fragmentary elevation section through the rake head showingthe manner in which the teeth are gripped and held in position; .andA

Fig. 5, a fragmentary elevation section showing a modifiedform of rakehead.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the drawings.

rlhe rake is composed ofa tubular head l having a plurality of teeth 2inserted through series of apertures 3 therein, and held in position insaid apertures by means of a binder 4i. A handle 5 is suit-ablyconnected to the head l by means of a yo-ke 6 in the usual manner. Y

The head .l is formed from a blank sheet of metal let by suitable dies(not shown). said blank being provided with pairs of alined apertures 3which maybe in the lform of perforations, as shown; and these aperturesare so positioned inthe blanktha-t they corresponds in length to thelength of the i head and in width to the interior dimensions of thehead. When placed in'position .in the head, the binder thus extends overand across'the rake teeth '2 inserted through the` apertures 3, and 1sheld in engagement there wat by uw Wens of the head, gewin-be presentlydescribed. i

In the formation of the rake head, the metal blank lCL is first bentinto U-form to bring the apertureB of one series into aline'- ment withthe apertures ofthe other series,

and the rake teeth entered in the apertures,

ing ythe head. ln this operation the upperV longitudinal edges of thebinder are engaged by the inner faces of the walls at aV pointimmediately above the aperture 3, and by reason of the leverage thusobtained, the binder is 'forced against the teeth, and in turn causesthe teeth to iirmly grip the lower edges or the apertures and bepositively held in engagement therewith.

lit will thus be evident that by my improved construction, the raketeeth may, if desired, be manually inserted through the apertures in therake head, and are positively held from slipping` out of position whenthe rake is subjected to violent usage, by the binder d, which is forcedagainst the teeth by the walls of the head, and in turn causes the teethto engage with the opposite edges of the apertures.

After the teeth have thus been secured in Genies el thisv patent may beobtained `for live cents each,

position, they maybe curved into any desired inal form'by'placing thehead between a pair or" suitable dies (not shown) and, if desired, agroove 7 may be formed in the lower wall of the tubular head for thepurpose of adding strength and rigiditythereto.

in Fig. 5 l have illustrated a modified form of head lc having astrengthening groove Y in its under side, said groove forining a rib 7bon the interior of the head which engages with the under side of theteeth, and thus forms an additional binding` surface therefor.

elairn:

Rake construction comprising a tubular head having pairs of alinedapertures therein, teeth looselyentere'd endwise in the aperf tures, anda binder strip of substantial thickness extending across the teeth thefull width of the space between the walls of the head, the walls of thehead immediately above the apertures being bent inward and downward uponthe binder to clamp the edges thereof against the teeth for gripping theteeth against the inner edges of the apertures.

FREDEBCK E. KHLER.

by addressing the Commissioner of Patents` Washington, 3D. C.

